Heroes
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: There are different kinds of heroes...
1. Tetrax's Words

**A/N: This was a series that was inspired a long time ago when I watched 'Ben 10: Secrets of the Omnitrix'. So I looked at it long and hard and wrote down a couple of quotes and now it pieced together nicely to be a five part series called 'Heroes' based around Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.**

**Disclaimer: Man Of Action owns Ben 10 and all the characters.**

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**_Tetrax's Words_**

**Ben's POV**

I was tossed harshly against the solid concrete wall like a pitiful rag doll and I opened my eyes to barely see Kevin's dark, burly form throwing itself at another enemy and then another and then another. His pale skin was showing through the nearly totally shredded deep gray armor. He was becoming more and more vulnerable with each hit that he took, but he still didn't stop.

Gwen was already standing above everyone, a pink platform of mana beneath her feet. Her eyes were glowing as they always were and she was already taking out as many enemies as she could. She shots were aimed mostly at the attackers that were taking out Kevin quickly, aiming to try and watch her boyfriend's back.

Something was ringing in the back of my head. Something about Tetrax. And it's not like something wasn't always coming to mind at the worst times. I blame it on the wall. But something was in my head. And that was a very unusual thing…

Back when I was ten, I think only one thing stuck with me while Gwen and Tetrax and I were working to save the universe from my exploding Omnitrix. His words. "Do you help because it's the right thing to do, or for the thrill of being a hero?"

For me, it was obvious. Now that it was getting worse, I knew my ego was making it the thrill. It was always the thrill for me. It always had been. I'd wanted that rush of adrenaline and I'd wanted the thrill more and more often. So it was the way that I wanted that rush again every single time that drove me crazy. I wanted more of it. I wanted to do more. I wanted more of the adrenaline. I just wanted another shot of it. So I got riskier. Each time.

I fought for the thrill. I was a hero because I wanted the thrill and the rush of adrenaline that pulsed through my veins. I would always be a hero because I wanted more of that adrenaline and more of that thrill. I doubt I could ever change my ways. They were set in stone now.

Gwen left no question. She was always doing it because it was right. When she was Lucky Girl for a little while, she got cocky and it was for the thrill and that little taste of fame she got. But before that and now, it was for helping people. She wanted to be that hero that people could look up to. And I have to say that she accomplished that.

Her mana blasted through the thick crowd of enemies and her face was twisted up in fury as she worked to save those she cared about: me and Kevin.

It was no question with my cousin. She was always saving people because she could. And even if one of us was in danger but others were also at stake, others came first because we could wait. We had more of a chance than normal people.

Gwen forced back a few more enemies, shielding me from them as her emerald eyes widened. "Ben, get up!"

She was always going to be helping people. Sure, Kevin and I were going places in the alien fighting business. But she had opportunities in the real world with real people. But she'd help us for as long as she could. Because she was always going to be a hero to help others.

Kevin was blown back a few feet and into the wall with a harsh crashing sound. I watched him crumple to the floor for a few seconds. Then he rose back to his shaky feet, staggering along the wall for something harder to use as armor. The whole time he took more and more and more blows.

I just stared at him. How did he see it? The aspect of being a hero. Did he do it for the thrill or because it was right?

He was pushed up against the wall once more, a hand at his throat until Gwen finally cleared her boyfriend a path through the chaos. Kevin managed to push his way along the wall and finally got to a pipe of pure iron. His fingers ran across it and a thin layer of iron armor rippled across his skin. The dark teen seemed to regain his strength again and dove back into the fight headfirst, not wasting a second to even think.

The thrill? For Kevin, no. He probably would've gone back to being a ruthless delinquent on the streets of New York again and sold illegal alien technology and still gotten that same thrill. And since it was Kevin, he probably wasn't doing it entirely because it was right. He was Kevin. He couldn't be doing it entirely because it was right. Maybe partially, but not entirely.

"Come on, Tennyson!" he yelled at me, eyes glowing furiously as he began fighting his way through the crowd once more, knocking aside our enemies with swift, simple blows.

I think that, for Kevin, it was the honor of it. He was a Plumber. That was what he wanted. And maybe part of it was because of Gwen being a hero and that heroes and bad guys didn't mix well when they loved each other. But I had to say that it was to redeem himself from the misdemeanors of his past that carried him on to stay with us even after the Highbreed plot had been ruined. I'm pretty sure it was Gwen that kept him around and on the right side.

So there were three sides to our team of heroes. There's me and my ego and fighting for the thrill of being the good guy that everyone loves.

There's Gwen who fights to take care of people around her and to save the lives that are so exposed to the dangers that we bring around to them.

And Kevin, fighting for himself and for his dignity and for his father.

"COME ON, BEN!" both Gwen and Kevin called at once as the enemies were overwhelming me now, coming dangerously close.

I guess there's different breeds of heroes. I got to my feet and staggered over towards Gwen and Kevin. Once this was over, I was going to hug them both, despite the onslaught of serious protesting that would come from the two of them.

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**A/N: next should be Gwen and then Kevin. Thanks for reading and don't forget the amazing review button!**

**~Sky**


	2. Hero

**A/N: so here is another piece of the 'Heroes' series. It's long over due and I sincerely apologize for that. I lost my flashdrive with the lyrics on it and since then, it's been a bit chaotic… I am so sorry that this is so late. Ben's POV**

**Disclaimer: characters are owned by Man Of Action and song is by Sterling Knight. i own nothing.**

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_**Hero (Unplugged)**_

**_Yeah, Yeah_**  
**_I'm no superman_**

We sat quietly in the shadows of the moonlight, Ship between us, barking out his favorite word as if he really were a dog. "Ship! Ship!" Julie's tender and soft hand just stroked him like he had fur. Her muddy, murky brown eyes were on the sky and her hair was cut across her face.

_**I can't take your hand**_  
_**And fly you anywhere you wanna go, yeah**_

"Jules," I said, reaching around the Galvanic Mechomorph that separated us. My arm fell around her waist and her gaze instantly flitted to me as a smile lit across her face like the sun in the dawn sky. "Have I told you I love you lately?"

_**I can't read your mind**_  
_**Like a billboard sign**_  
_**And tell you everything you wanna hear**_

Her smile sparkled like diamonds after that as she looked at me with those gorgeous brown orbs of chocolate beauty. "Nope," she replied, a slight giggle on the end of her voice. "Just how much I am the best girlfriend ever and how I'm so perfect for respecting you being a hero and everything." She leaned a little closer to me, Ship jumping on her lap so that he wasn't separating us any longer.

**_But I'll be your hero_**

A grin overcame me. I tightened my hold on her waist. "I'll always be your hero, Julie."

_**Cause I,**_  
_**I can be everything you need**_

She carefully leaned in, our lips meeting for a long moment. Her hands laced around my neck, her fingers twining together. I felt her fingertips touching the edge of my hair and her body came closer to mine as I let my hands fall into the small of her back. Julie was warm against me, the edge of her hair touched my cheeks as she leaned in a little more.

_**If you're the one for me**_  
_**Like gravity, I'll be unstoppable**_

Ship kept chirping away with his barks and little murring noises. He rubbed himself up against Julie, but she was focused on me. Her lips moved against mine, warm and ready for more kisses. I nibbled at her lip and she laughed, pulling away. "Ben, you're hilarious."

"I'm a lot of things, if you haven't noticed." I couldn't stop the grin that kept crawling across my face. It was irresistible. It was too hard to stop myself from smiling.

**_I, yeah I believe in destiny_**

She leaned into me, her head resting on my shoulder as we resumed our side-by-side position. Julie seemed to be so much closer to me now without her pet separating us. Her hair was brushing my cheek and she was close to me and she smiled as we stared into the cold night sky, my car sitting in the driveway of her house. "You're everything." One finger tapped my Ultimatrix. "This thing is a bit of a helper on that."

_**I may be an ordinary guy without his soul**_  
_**But if you're the one for me**_  
_**Then I'll be your hero, oh**_

"It kinda makes me a hero, Jules." I curled myself tighter around her. "You know, turns me into aliens. Let's me save the universe and all. Gives me super powers. Gets me all awesome so I can go and save you whenever necessary." I smiled at her as she glared at me playfully for a second, her smile twisting evilly as she gave me a light punch to the chest with one arm.

**_I'll be your hero, yeah_**  
**_I'll be your hero_**

It kind of actually hurt. I guess being a hand-based athlete made her stronger than she knew. I winced, but she didn't notice. I couldn't be a perfect hero. I was still vulnerable to some things.

**_So incredible_**  
**_Some kind of miracle_**  
**_That when its meant to be_**  
**_I'll become a hero_**

She curled closer to me. Ship chirped again. "Ben, I saw that. You're such a wuss."

"I'm a lot of things," I repeated, kissing her cheek with a soft peck and reaching up from the small of her back to play with her hair. "Don't forget that."

**_So I'll wait, wait, wait, wait for you_**  
**_Yeah, I'll be your hero, yeah_**  
**_Cause I, I can be everything you need_**

Julie pinned herself closer to me. "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson-"

"Why must Gwen insist on using middle names when she's mad at us?" I asked, hating how Kevin could now use my middle name against me. And I could always use his middle name against him too… So I guess it was fair enough. And I hated how Kevin could always find a better way to use it to his advantage against me than I could against him…

_**If you're the one for me**_  
_**Like gravity I'll be unstoppable**_

"Do you hate your middle name?" asked Julie, eyeing me with her usual gorgeous gaze.

**_I, yeah I believe in destiny_**

"No…" I kind of did. Just a little bit. "I just hate how we get off topic when someone uses my middle name." I pulled her closer until our bodies were pressed together.

**_I may be an ordinary guy without his soul_**

She looked up at me slightly, brushing the ebony-colored strands of her shortly cropped hair away from her face and behind her ear. "Ben, just kiss me again. It makes you shut up and sometimes, I think you're cuter when you're quieter."

**_But if you're the one for me_**

I rolled my eyes and quietly leaned in so that our lips touched again, this time more passionately as the night sky lit up the world around us. It was quiet as we sat there in the darkness, two souls twined together as one. I moved my hand back to the small of her back and her body moved against mine harder so that we were tighter together. She let her fingers touch my hair again, now laced around my neck once more.

**_Then I'll be your hero, yeah_**

We broke away for a moment. "I love you, Julie," I breathed, drinking in the night air with a soft breath.

**_Yeah, I'll be your hero, yeah_**  
**_I'll be your hero_**

"Love you too, hero boy." And she kissed me again.

**_Hero_**

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**A/N: there's that. Sorry it took so long. Btw, this series is just one-shots, not a full out story story. 5 shots. One more songfic. And two more POV shots. One for Gwen and one for Kevin. So please review and thanks for reading.**

**~Sky**


	3. Scarlet

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**A/N: this one I had planned out for awhile, but it's taken me longer than I had hoped to get it started and keep it going. So here's Gwen's piece of the 'Heroes' series**

**Disclaimer: All the characters are owned by Man Of Action.**

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_**Scarlet**_

I felt my body being ripped at by what felt like hundreds of thousands of tiny hands. They tore at my flesh and ripped me to shreds and I could feel my body unravelling faster than a ragdoll with tattered seams. And through every horribly agonizing second of it, I was wide awake, my eyes closed to block out the images of my bright scarlet blood pooling around my body as it slowly turned cold as ice against the ground and the snow that I laid on.

I could distantly hear Kevin's voice crying out my name, that silent sedctiveness still lingering in his voice whether he knew it or not. He was my love, my one and only, my true. I would cling onto every memory I had of him. Forever.

I have to say that Kevin was one memory I would never be able to let go of. His transformation from villain to hero was miraculous. If there was any chance of a movie on us and our lives, Kevin's story would bring tears to the dark and brutal eyes of the strongest men everywhere.

I felt tears pricking my own gaze and the pain began to emanate like a soft glow, growing lighter as it came closer. Like the pain growing stronger as Death came closer, his cloak wrapped tight around his body of bones and his weapon of choice clutched in a thin hand. He would come for me any time now. I could only wait and endure the endless nightmare of agony that swelled through my limbs and abdomen as the thoughts of dying swirled through my head.

The din of the battle had died away as quickly as it had stirred up. I stared bluntly up at the white sky, afraid the blood around me would stain the snow a bright scarlet.

I didn't want to die. That single thought echoed through my skull.

Rushed footsteps crushed through the pristine icy snow, becoming louder as they closed in on me and all my undermined glory of the death that marred what little I had left. I felt a warm body close beside me and the touch of Kevin's rough and warm hands caress my broken skin as my name touched his lips every few seconds, pleading for me to come back from my injured state; the state that had me near Death and staring him straight in the eyes, challenging him to take me without a fight.

Ben's voice was soft and far off as if he were in another galaxy. I could hear the pain coming off of his words as he said, "She will always be a hero, Kevin."

I winced at my boyfriend's name, knowing he was so near to my body as my mind was so severely distanced from him. From above, I could watch my cold body as Kevin caressed it with tears streaking down his stony cheeks, his dark orbs of pure black obsidian showing the storm of sadness that raged on inside of him.

All I could see was scarlet.

The snow beneath me was scarlet.

All I knew was scarlet.

The color of my pain was scarlet.

"She still will be."

Kevin's gentle but confident words pulled me from my whirlwind of pain. His fingers touched the ground, pressing into the concrete sidewalk beneath the layers of snow. Slowly, armor of broken gray concrete covered him.

Then, even slower, the armor began to cover me. I felt myself being pulled back out of Death's bony grasp and back down into my body as Kevin whispered over me, "Gwen, don't leave me. I love you too much. You can't die. You can't leave me alone now. I need you." His lips pressed to my forehead for a long moment before his tears fell onto my own cheek. "You're my only one."

The concrete faded from both of us quickly and I felt him clutch me in a grip so tight that I thought he might send me right back into the hands of Death. He was gasping for air as he cried, holding me as I held him right back, breathing, living, alive as ever in his muscular, broad, warm arms that closed around me like a blanket of strength.

No words passed between us. None were needed.

Only one thing is stronger than Death and it is called Love. It is the sole power that has faced Death head on and lived. Love conquers all, just as heroes do.

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**A/N: there's Gwen's little one-shot. Please don't forget to review. I read all of them and they all mean the world to me.**

**~Sky**


	4. Hero Heroine

**A/N: okay, this needs to be updated so I can finish it soon and so I can get to work on new serieses. Soon, I promise you this, 'Benlie Weekend' will be up. I promise.**

**This is in Kevin's POV since the song is perfect for him. But generally, it's the Gwevin portion of this fic. Then the final chapter will be Kevin's.**

**Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Man of Action and song is by 'Boys Like Girls'. I definitely suggest that you listen to it.**

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**Hero/Heroine**

_It's too late baby, there's no turning around_

Gwen thrashed against bonds that held us all tied together. Ben was on my left and my favorite redhead was off to my right. I kept my eyes locked on her and focused on my weak attempts to absorb the raw iron that held our bonds to my wrists. My fingers touched it and I felt my skin covered in the cold armor. Apparently, our captor knew nothing of Osmosians.

_I've got my hands in my pocket and my head in a cloud_

With a wicked smile, I dropped to the floor, my bonds smashing and falling behind me as I landed neatly. Then, after checking to make sure I hadn't been seen yet, I reached up and pulled Gwen free of her bonds, feeling her limp body fall into my arms. "Thanks, Kevin," she breathed.

I was silent for a few moments before looking up at the unconscious Ben and deciding against pulling Ben down off the wall. He would be fine. That, and taking care of him when he was out cold would've been harder than just leaving him there.

_This is how I do  
When I think about you_

Gwen and I bolted off, feet thrumming rhythmically against the ground as we made some headway before being seen. Then Charmcaster turned around, her silver hair flashing and eyes glittering angrily. I grinned and swept my fingers across the cold cement floor as Gwen held her off. Then I leapt over the shield that she used to protect the two of us and I slammed my mace-shaped fist into the ground at her feet, it shattering and setting her off balance.

_I never thought that you could break me apart  
I keep a sinister smile and a hole in my heart_

A flash of mana roared over my head, making perfect contact with Charmcaster and knocking her down so that she lay sprawled across the ground, eyes fluttered shut easily.

_You want to get inside  
Then you can get in line_

I looked back at Gwen to see her emerald eyes sparkling softly with the pride of being the heroine. And she smiled at me. "Good going, Kevin," she said, walking in a little closer to me where I stood over Charmcaster's limp body. Then she paused.

_But not this time_

As her eyes widened, I turned around to see a series of about three or four of her golems behind me. I leapt away, skidding across the stone ground and landing somewhere near Gwen's feet. I could see her tight-covered legs. "Those things just come out of nowhere," I laughed with a smile up at her.

She looked down at me, rolling her eyes slightly, but that smile still on her face. She put up a shield as I rose to my feet, shaking off the weak armor that hadn't provided as much strength as I would've liked.

_'Cause you caught me off guard_

"I never really realized how weird it is to fight on the good guy side," I told her as she stood there holding up the shield effortlessly. "I mean, I can just watch them on that side of the wall and think 'Wow, I used to be like that' but now I feel like I was never one of them."

_Now I'm running and screaming_

"You never really were," she said, wrapping a tentacle of mana around a golem.

I smiled at the redhead innocently and crouched. Then bounded around the shield of mana and let out a long war-cry, my fists turning into sharpened axes. I began to slice away at them, their bodies crumpling to shreds under my fierce blows.

_I feel like a hero and you are my heroine_

I never really realized how lucky I was that Gwen and Ben had found me.

_I won't try to philosophize  
I'll just take a deep breath and I'll look in your eyes_

My armor fell away again as a blow to the back of my head knocked me against a wall, giving me a moment where my focus dissolved. I was exposed until another shield of mana fell over me and Gwen shot me a look that said "get your butt off the ground and go fight these useless rock-heads".

_This is how I feel  
And it's so surreal_

Secretly, she meant it in a nice way.

_I got a closet filled up to the brim  
With the ghosts of my past and the skeletons_

So I grabbed a stone that stuck out of the wall as a golem got too close to Gwen for my comfort. I focused and the armor covered me as I stood. Then, once I was totally covered, I raced towards her, jumping up and grabbing the golem around the neck and slicing my sword like arm through the throat, knowing that stabbing it in the back would've been too much like my old self.

_And I don't know why  
You'd even try  
But I won't lie_

It roared, head sliding off and Gwen just used her hand to push it down simply with an arrogant smile. I chuckled and said, "I thought being cocky was my job."

"You can share," she retorted sweetly, pushing past me towards Charmcaster who was slowly rising to her feet again, her silver hair floating around her so that she looked like a ghost bathed in the moonlight.

_You caught me off guard  
Now I'm running and screaming_

"Gwen Tennyson," hissed the sorceress, fierce rage boiling in her eyes. "And Levin." Her fingers swirled some of her pink magic around her palm, creating what looked like a whirlwind. "Just peachy." Then a blast of magic came at us.

_I feel like a hero and you are my heroine  
Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?_

I managed to grab Gwen just before the wind blasted us against the wall. I had taken a good majority of the blow, Gwen only being hit by a few stray pebbles that had knocked loose from the old stones that I had smashed into. My head spun, but I clutched her tightly until the wind died.

She held me up against the wall so I didn't fall down. "You alright?" she asked, worry clear in her voice that seemed musical when she laughed and sounded like bells when she giggled like a little school girl. I loved her too much for my own good.

_And I feel a weakness coming on_

"Just get her," I breathed, taking a hold on one of the rocks to keep myself upright despite the realization that the armor on my back had been beaten off from hitting the rock. And my shirt was ripped. That was just great. Third one this week. "I'll be fine. I just need a few seconds."

_Never felt so good to be so wrong  
Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me all around_

A snarl ripped from Gwen's lips as she charged viciously at the silver-haired witch. Charmcaster's eyes widened and then narrowed as she sent another round of the magic swirling her way.

Gwen side-stepped it and fired off some sort of spell that engulfed Charmcaster in magenta flames for a long moment until the sorceress stepped out, getting a square kick in the chest from my karate trained girlfriend who smirked to herself. "Fire's only a distraction from the burning," she said, standing over the witch with her hands swirling with the mana.

_I'm feeling like a newborn child  
Every time I get a chance to see you smile_

Her skills were so much more advanced than I'd ever thought. Teleportation. Fire. Being able to come back out of her Anodite form without me to coax her back into our world.

_It's not complicated  
I was so jaded_

That girl always gave me a new thing to smile at each day.

_And you caught me off guard  
Now I'm running and screaming_

Charmcaster soaked herself into a portal that had created just below her, her body sinking into the floor with a quick vanishing act. Only her voice loomed. "Next time, Tennyson. Next time." Then the portal vanished. "You too, Levin."

_I feel like a hero and you are my heroine_

Gwen turned and saw me, a smile returning to her lips. Then fading.

_Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?_

Of course, the second I look away, another golem is still there. I guess we hadn't gotten all of them.

It grabbed me around the throat, hoisting me into the air. I clutched at its hand, struggling to get a breath of air into my lungs. My focus drained again and I was forced into losing my armor, feeling the crushing power of the golem. I fiercely writhed, feeling my legs kicking into open air and my exposure being the death of me.

_I feel like a hero and you are my heroine_

"Kevin, don't!" she yelled, fear overwhelming her voice and fear ringing in her eyes and awestruck face.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I wasn't about to go down without a fight. I gripped its hand harder and focused on absorbing the material.

_And I feel a weakness coming on  
Never felt so good to be so wrong_

Slowly, it began to creep across my skin, going down my legs first before it covered my head. And the second it had entirely covered me, I felt the power of Charmcaster's magic taking me over and I howled, only praying that she wouldn't make me kill Gwen. I couldn't imagine killing her, seeing her die under my fist.

_Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me all around_

"Kevin, I just told you don't!" groaned Gwen loudly enough for me to finally understand what she had said. And I wanted to say "My bad" but I was too busy trying to get myself freed of Charmcaster's control and the golem's grip. I kept thrashing. Uselessly, of course.

_Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?_

A flare of mana moved from her hand and came flying at the fist that held me tight in a strangle hold. And I was dropped, collapsing to the ground. Then Gwen sliced off the head with another wing-shaped flare of mana and then she kicked it down squarely in the chest.

_I'm feeling like a newborn child_

I held my head, feeling my knees giving as I crashed to the ground.

"Kevin, you bastard," she hissed, falling beside me and putting an arm across my shoulders. "When I tell you know, you should probably _listen_." She put a hand to my forehead and cleared the armor from my body, cleansing my mind of Charmcaster's cursed magic. And again, she hissed, "Bastard."

_Every time I get a chance to see you smile  
It's not complicated  
I was so jaded_

I just smiled and put my hand to the back of her neck and pulled her down a little closer to me as I crashed to the ground, giving into the powers of gravity. "Callin' me names don't fix anythin'," I laughed.

_I feel like a hero and you are my heroine_

Without hesitation, she leaned down and kissed me perfectly, her lips touching mine with soft sweetness that made me want more so desperately I could taste it. Her lip gloss had to be something like watermelon and cinnamon mix. She always tasted different at every kiss. A little magic on her behalf.

_And I feel a weakness coming on_

Before either of us knew what was going on, we were curling up there together. Her body was on top of mine and my tongue was in her mouth and we had to be there for at least a solid five minutes until someone cleared their throat from some length away.

_Never felt so good to be so wrong_

"Get. A. Room," came Ben's aggressive voice, now thrashing against his iron bonds that held him against the wall. "You guys are just gross. I'm fine with you dating and all, but can't you keep it to a minimum around me? I am very impressionable at this age!"

_Had my heart on lockdown  
And then you turned me all around  
Do you know that your love is the sweetest sin?_

I glared at him and Gwen rolled off of my chest as I took in another deep breath. Gwen rose to her feet and began to smooth out her skirt and fix her hair before offering a hand down to help me up. I took it, her warm hand touching mine. I could feel the sparks and chemistry bouncing between us like lightning through the night sky.

_I'm feeling like a newborn child  
Every time I get a chance to see you smile_

Gwen let her mana crush his bonds and he crumpled to the ground like a rag doll. Naturally, I grinned and moved to wrap my arm around Gwen's waist. And as soon as Ben looked up, his face turned disgusted and he stormed off, throwing his hands in the air and complaining how sick we were and how he was so impressionable so we should just shut up about loving each other. Something like that.

_It's not complicated  
I was so jaded_

Me and Gwen just followed him, sharing our discreet smiles, whispering secret "I love you"s to each other so that Ben wouldn't hear.

_I feel like a hero  
__You are my heroine_

He may have been the team's head honcho, but we were still part of the team, hero and heroine, and we would love each other whether he liked it or not. He couldn't control us and our emotions. Despite what a sin it was for us to be together, so opposite, but so perfect.

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**A/N: Love how this turned out. One last chapter after this. Review please.**

**~Sky**


	5. Vindicated

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**A/N: This is the final chapter of my 'Heroes' series. I had this piece totally planned out before I even posted the first chapter of this. So please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Ben 10. Man Of Action owns it all.**

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**_Vindicated_**

My eyes flitted open, the darkness still lingering around me as a single light shone down from the ceiling. I winced away from it, thrashing against whatever held me to the chair I was stuck to. I let my eyes adjust slowly to this surrounding.

It was jet-black, shadows clinging to the walls for dear life. I couldn't see a door or anyway in or out. My eyes searched for any signs of a camera, knowing this was no prison, just an interrogation room. A well-built one. Meant to keep people like me trapped inside for good.

Energy cuffs were wrapped around my wrists and my powers were useless, every inch of exposed skin on me either too far from anything metal or covered up by extra cloth wrapped around my skin.

"Come on out," I snarled, thrashing at the bonds, knowing very well that I wasn't going to get anywhere. The chair was nailed to the floor and made of some of the strongest metals in the universe. "I don't bite." I ripped at the bonds, not ready to give up the struggle yet. "Much."

From the shadows, Magister Gilhil appeared in all his green glory. His eyes were shadowed and his features were clearly disapproving of me. Not that I expected anything less. He had hated me originally. What would change that now?

"Kevin Ethan Levin," he said, the words like venom on his tongue. "I always expected you to go back to crime." His eyes were glaring lasers at me. "Just not so soon."

I focused and I quietly realized I was on the other side of the interrogation room this time. My fingers gripped at the empty air of the energy cuffs. Nothing. Nothing to absorb. No way out. "Why is it that everyone thinks so little of me?" I growled right back, not afraid of what he could do to me. The Null Void was easily worse than anything the Plumbers would do to me.

"Levin," said Gilhil, shaking his head, "I even thought the Tennysons were changing you. I thought Ben had you run right. And Gwendolyn had immediate effects on you. She had you on the right side of town for the longest time." He moved his way a little closer to me with a familiar scowl on his features.

I thrashed harder against the bonds as Gwen's name rang through my head. I begged for her to be on Earth and not watching me. I didn't want her to see this. I hadn't done anything that deserved true punishment from the Plumbers. "You don't know what you're talking about," I hissed through gritted teeth. "You don't know who I am. You never knew, let alone cared. All you Plumbers see is a record and a sentence. There's nothing more than that to any of you. You can't even call me by my full name, Magister Prior Gilhil."

It was cold. Not just his voice, but the room. It was as if the whole place was being pumped with icy air to make me freeze. Goosebumps kissed my cold skin.

"We see people better than you. You just never saw the full extent of your initial punishment, Levin." His attitude was sickeningly hateful. He stared right through me like I was nothing to him. But I already knew I was nothing to someone like him, all high-and-mighty over the rest of the world. "The Null Void carries consequences."

I raised an eyebrow, feeling the fear light my obsidan orbs with a dark raging blaze of fire. "What are you talking about?" I snarled, still furious that he was detaining me for nothing at all. He was using me like a little tool in his twisted games as if I switched sides every day.

I had never switched sides without a damn good reason.

"You're only on parole," Magister Gilhil told me with a wicked smile on his face that made me want to tear him to shreds more than I already did. He was worthless as a Plumber. I could've done three thousand times better than him at his job. It was so simple.

I wanted to hit him. I craved the touch of my fist colliding with his jaw or his eye or his cheek. Anything to knock him down, to let some of this bubbling fury out before it all backfired on me.

"The Null Void has always been an option for you."

My stomach sank as I saw the truth behind his words. More than once, I had slipped up and I stared the portal of the Null Void dead in the eye of the swirling red and prayed that I could find another way out. And I was always on parole. But Ben and Gwen vouched for me. I had never been touched by them because I always had someone guarding my back and watching out for me, covering my steps and keeping me out of trouble. Without the Tennysons... I reverted back to just another criminal on the cruel, vicious streets of New York.

I struggled more, hoping once more for a miracle to come around and sweep me away from the dangers. "I'm vindicated. You can't touch me for my crimes." I stared him down hard, knowing I had so many reasons to stay out of the Null Void. But I easily had more than enough reasons to be shipped in there as well. "I saved Earth nearly single-handed and risked my life doing so. I helped save the entire universe too. I may be a murderer and I may be a con and I may be a crook, but you know that I would do anything to keep the universe safe."

His stare hardened and his knuckles cracked.

"I swear on my father's grave."

The words caught in the back of my throat as I said them as tears caught up in my eyes and I thrashed more against the energy cuffs that emanated the faint blue glow. I stared at him with a grimace painted across my face.

"Son," said Gilhil, looking down at me even more disapprovingly now, "You know that only buys you more time before a jury." He quietly knelt down to my level and stared at me. "I don't want to have to do this to you, but we have to send you back to the Null Void for breaking your parole."

I was leaning as far forward in the chair as I could get, my wrists aching as they pulled against the bonds. I could feel he tendons stretching in my neck. My voice was absolutely feral. "I saved billions of people. What more do you want?"

His reply was short, curt; it sounded as if he were secretly mocking me. "Justice."

I snorted, glaring at him coldly like the hypocrite he was as he rose above me again, showing me up once more as I replied, being a hundred percent honest for the first time in a long time.

"Yeah. Me too."

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**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review.**

**~Sky**


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